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Behind ‘The Admiral Broadway Revue’ Debacle…

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

Behind ‘The Admiral Broadway Revue’ Debacle…

Yesterday, in discussing the history of NBC’s International Theater, we discovered that despite high ratings, Admiral had pulled the plug on it’s own ‘Admiral Broadway Revue’ starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca which debuted on January 29, 1949.

Out of curiosity, I dug a little deeper into Admiral and now I better understand their position. It seems that the show’s popularity had generated too much demand for their factory to keep up with. Admiral’s reputation was based on quality…not low prices and quantity. In order to maintain that quality, they took more time in crafting their lines of radio and televisions.

Below are two 1948 ads that show what we would now call a home entertainment center with a phonograph, a radio and what looks like a 12 or 14 inch television receiver. This unit was priced at around $390, which is equivalent to around $3,920 today.

Continental Radio and Television in Chicago was the maker of the Admiral band and to them, speeding up production meant sacrificing quality. To keep up with the demand the show had created, they would have had to build a new plant, but although doing well, were not willing to do that. The only other option was to pull the plug on the show.

Congratulations to Continental and Admiral! It’s not often that corporations take the high road of quality at their own expense. Admiral remained a top electronics brand until the flood of mass produced appliances from Japan hit in the late 1960s.


Source

7 responses to “Behind ‘The Admiral Broadway Revue’ Debacle…”

  1. John Robert Hampson III

    In 1946 we bought, from Lee’s Furniture, an 8 inch Motorola TV set. Then in 1948 we got an RCA 10 inch Console with a Record Player and a AM/FM Radio. We kept it as a second TV until we moved from Vine street to Ogden Ave in 1960. This is why I got into Television.

  2. Glenn Krasner

    Dumont had a television network, as Brock Whaley points out below. Dumont also made television sets, as my parents were loyal Dumont customers, and we went through two of them that I remember as a kid. Glenn in the Bronx, NY.

  3. James M Patterson

    Formal wear requested when watching boxing on TV!

  4. Bryan Durr

    Imagine that… Getting out of something because you don’t want to make crappy products. 🙂

  5. Neil Rattigan

    Didn’t Admiral also sponsor Bishop Sheen’s “Life Is Worth Living?”

  6. Neil Rattigan

    Nice home entertainment center… 1940s style.

  7. Brock Whaley

    This program was on both the DuMont network and NBC at the same time. There were a few cities where DuMont had a primary affiliate. Also, at the time, there was one coax line to the Midwest. AT&T divided use of the line among the four networks. The “Admiral Revue” was broadcast during a time period that included DuMont’s allotment of the cable time. The program originated at NBC, but was sent out to Dumont affiliates at the same time.

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